


Girls' Night

by fenellaevangela



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-10 01:50:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15280935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fenellaevangela/pseuds/fenellaevangela
Summary: Rey goes on a walk.





	Girls' Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [maplemood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maplemood/gifts).



After their final escape from the First Order, the dwindling Resistance had fled to yet another abandoned Rebellion base. Rey liked this one, nestled as it was among the green ferns and tall trees of a lush rain forest. There were roughly a dozen buildings peeking out of the forest, and whether by design or through the ravages of time, the forest grew freely between them. Only narrow footpaths through the undergrowth connected the buildings and Rey had had to land the Falcon some distance away when they had first arrived; its new landing pad was now the only break in the base's canopy, a patch of unbroken sky amid the dappled sunlight. The encroaching forest and sturdy stone buildings felt somehow . . . peaceful. And unlike the previous Resistance stronghold where Rey had briefly stayed, she wasn't the only one there who was living there for the first time. Everyone there was just as unfamiliar with this base's nooks and crannies as she was. It was refreshing, after having her life turned so thoroughly upside down, not to feel like an interloper just because she wasn't quite sure where everything was. They had been there less than a month and familiarizing herself with the base simply felt like a normal part of settling in instead of like a game of catch-up.

Of course, exploring the grounds didn't just help her get more familiar with her surroundings but also helped everyone else. You never knew what little detail could be useful when running a covert pseudo military operation. So Rey decided to use a few moments of free time to poke around some of the outermost buildings of the base, looking for unopened doors, untread paths, and maybe even stashes of valuable equipment.

Well, a woman could hope. She _had_ found that pile of energy converters during their first week.

No useful surprises revealed themselves this time, however. Most of the buildings had already been fully inspected inside and put to use, and the exteriors were simple and bare – no seams in the stone concealing secret doors. Not today, anyway. Resigning herself to a day of less interesting discoveries than hidden treasure, Rey took a turn down a footpath she hadn't had reason to use before and kept her eyes peeled for anything useful. The air had a pleasant dampness to it that Rey had found she enjoyed, and it was a nice walk. After a few twists around imposing trees, though, the path turned back towards the camp and ended behind one of the buildings the general had earmarked for operations; a useful route to know, but certainly nothing remarkable.

Sitting on a low wooden bench that ran the length of the wall was one of the few people in the Resistance who Rey had gotten the chance to really get comfortable with. Rose smiled when she saw Rey emerge from the trees, and Rey smiled back but she wasn't sure if she should intrude. Usually, when the other woman wasn't working, Rey saw Rose with Finn if she was with anybody. Otherwise they often spent time alone, sometimes grabbing a meal together or spending an evening tinkering with the inner workings of the Falcon. That was a dynamic Rey was familiar with. Now sitting next to Rose on the bench was a woman Rey had seen before, particularly around the command centre, but whom she had barely spoken to except in passing and the situation felt . . . well, awkward.

“Would you like some?” Rose asked, holding up a package of sweets. It rustled as she shook it. 

Rey perked up. The tension she felt didn't break but it did soften. “Ooh, yes please,” she said. 

She'd learned, since meeting Rose, that she had a sweet tooth. Sitting down at Rose's free side, Rey let herself be occupied by the process of selecting a sweet and savouring the first burst of flavour as it dissolved on her tongue. It was an absolutely lovely moment, but as moments do it soon passed and she could feel the awkwardness bubbling back up. That simply would not do. She leaned across Rose with her hand outstretched. 

“I'm Rey.”

The other woman's eyebrows rose, but she took Rey's hand without hesitation. “I know.” 

Rey put on a sheepish grin. Right. She still wasn't used to people saying that.

“I'm Lieutenant Connix,” the woman continued. “Or Kaydel.”

“It's nice to meet you, Kaydel,” Rey replied, and by the time she had sat back properly again the awkwardness was gone, vanished. Kaydel seemed nice enough. She popped another sweet into her mouth.

Before the silence could stretch out into its own style of awkwardness, Rose broke it. 

“Hey, so there's a thing at the canteen tonight,” she said.

“There's a canteen?” Rey asked. There was a mess hall, she knew; almost everyone ate a meal or two a day in the long building near the middle of the base. There was also an enterprising young mechanic who was already serving moonshine out of her bunk to those who were interested. But Rey hadn't heard anything specifically about a canteen.

Kaydel nodded, pointing past Rey toward the other side of the base. “Behind Barrack C.”

“Oh,” Rey said. “I thought that was a storage shed.”

Smirking, Kaydel explained that it had been, “But some of the op techs decided the Resistance needed a canteen more than we needed another storage shed.”

Rey had a sneaking suspicion that those op techs had had some encouragement from one of their superior officers. She decided right then that she definitely _did_ like Kaydel. 

“So will you come?” Rose asked. “I know you don't really enjoy, you know, groups - ” 

The statement startled Rey, because she realized that she'd never actually _tried_ spending time among a group of people just for the joy of it, not deliberately. It had never felt like an option on Jakku, but now . . . had it looked to others like she was avoiding it?

“ - But it's really just somewhere to unwind,” continued Rose. “There's music and games and whatever we can get from the kitchen. People have been asking me to invite you. You've done so much – they all want to meet you!” 

“Effis is bringing drinks” Kaydel added, in case Rey was seriously considering saying no.

Of course she wasn't. “I'd love to come.”

Just as the two women launched into a vivid description of the last canteen party Kaydel's communicator crackled to life. She exchanged a few words with a tinny voice, Rey and Rose alert just in case, before sighing and getting up.

“The Resistance never rests. I gotta get back in there,” she said, gesturing over her shoulder at the ops building.

“Anything serious?” asked Rose.

Kaydel shook her head. “No. I'll see you two tonight, all right?”

“It'll be a girls' night!” Rose agreed.

Rey waved at Kaydel's retreating back and smiled. She felt a little thrill of excitement, of anticipation; she'd never had a girls' night before.

She already knew she was going to like it.


End file.
